Ron Paul Wins California Straw Poll

Ron Paul is a bit like the elephant in the room -- try as one might he just can't be ignored. The Republican Party establishment won't admit he even exists, his opponents in the presidential race have tried to marginalize him, and the mainstream media just totally ignores him -- but he just keeps on going. And while he doesn't do great in general polls, he does have an uncanny ability to gather his supporters for a specific event.

He demonstrated this by virtually finishing in a tie with Michele Bachmann in the Iowa straw poll -- finishing far ahead of his other opponents. Now he has repeated that feat in the state of California, and actually done even better there than in Iowa. The California Republican Party met in Los Angeles this past weekend and as a part of the festivities they held a presidential straw poll. Paul won big, getting nearly 45% of the 833 votes cast. Here are the full results:

Ron Paul...............374 (44.9%)

Rick Perry................244 (29.3%)

Mitt Romney...............74 (8.8%)

Michele Bachmann...............64 (7.7%)

Jon Huntsman...............17 (2.0%)

Herman Cain...............15 (1.8%)

Newt Gingrich...............14 (1.7%)

Thad McCotter...............7 (0.8%)

Rick Santorum...............7 (0.8%)

Gary Johnson...............2 (0.2%)

Fred Karger...............1 (0.1%)

Write-ins...............15 (1.8%)

I don't know if Paul can keep this up, but if he does the party and the media might have to start paying attention to him.